Blog

May 19 3:44 pm

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island today unveiled its sum­mer sea­son cal­en­dar with a host of events and expe­ri­ences in hon­or of the Island’s 20^th year open to the pub­lic. The pro­gram­ming announced today high­lights the extra­or­di­nary range of events, cul­tur­al offer­ings, and recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties that have made Gov­er­nors Island a beloved des­ti­na­tion since first open­ing to the pub­lic in the sum­mer of 2005. This mile­stone sea­son cel­e­brates two decades of trans­for­ma­tion — from a for­mer mil­i­tary base into a thriv­ing pub­lic oasis — with a line­up that includes immer­sive pub­lic art instal­la­tions, open-air con­certs and food fes­ti­vals, unpar­al­leled recre­ation­al and edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties, world-class sport­ing events, and more. 

“Gov­er­nors Island is an extra­or­di­nary exam­ple of what is pos­si­ble when we invest in acces­si­ble, equi­table pub­lic spaces that serve all New York­ers,” said Deputy May­or for Hous­ing, Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment, and Work­force Adol­fo Car­rión Jr. ​“From cli­mate inno­va­tion and arts pro­gram­ming to small busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties and recre­ation, Gov­er­nors Island embod­ies the very best of New York City’s cre­ativ­i­ty and resilience. The Adams admin­is­tra­tion is proud to cel­e­brate twen­ty years of pub­lic access to this won­der­ful place – and is excit­ed for the upcom­ing sum­mer sea­son ahead.”

“Over the past two decades, Gov­er­nors Island has grown from a hid­den gem into a vibrant pub­lic resource that reflects the spir­it and diver­si­ty of New York City,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“As we cel­e­brate 20 years of pub­lic access, we are thrilled to hon­or the Island’s remark­able evo­lu­tion while con­tin­u­ing to offer the high-qual­i­ty and acces­si­ble events, pro­grams, recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties, open space, and arts and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences that make Gov­er­nors Island a tru­ly sin­gu­lar des­ti­na­tion. We hope to see you on the fer­ry this summer!”

Gov­er­nors Island first opened to the pub­lic in June 2005 for the first time in two cen­turies, wel­com­ing 8,000 vis­i­tors across four sum­mer week­ends. The pub­lic sea­son expand­ed to four months the fol­low­ing year and five months in 2008. The Island wel­comed its inau­gur­al year-round ten­ants, the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School and Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil, in 2010. The same year, the Gov­er­nors Island Park and Pub­lic Space Mas­ter Plan was released, pro­vid­ing a roadmap for improve­ments to ameni­ties and land­scapes as well as a new park on the Island’s south­ern end. The first 30 acres of the South Island Park opened to the pub­lic in 2014, and the park’s cul­mi­nat­ing fea­ture — The Hills — opened to the pub­lic in 2016. 

In 2020, the Trust and the New York City Mayor’s Office announced a vision to cre­ate the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions, a com­mu­ni­ty to accel­er­ate cli­mate solu­tions for cities on Gov­er­nors Island. In April 2023, fol­low­ing a two-year com­pet­i­tive process led by the Trust and the City of New York, The New York Cli­mate Exchange was select­ed as the anchor research and edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tion for this ini­tia­tive. After open­ing to the pub­lic year-round in 2021, Gov­er­nors Island cel­e­brat­ed a major mile­stone in 2024, wel­com­ing more than 970,000 indi­vid­u­als — the largest num­ber of annu­al vis­i­tors in the Island’s history. 

OPEN SPACE, AMENI­TIES, AND ATTRACTIONS

As Gov­er­nors Island cel­e­brates 20 years of being open to the pub­lic, it con­tin­ues to serve as a vital resource for all New York­ers. The Island is open dai­ly, offer­ing vis­i­tors access to 120 acres of expan­sive open space just min­utes from Low­er Man­hat­tan and Brook­lyn. The Island’s 43-acre, award-win­ning park — rec­og­nized for its inno­v­a­tive, cli­mate-resilient design — fea­tures rolling lawns, vibrant land­scapes, and ample space for pic­nick­ing and out­door recre­ation. Ham­mock Grove’s rec­og­niz­able red ham­mocks com­ple­ment sev­er­al expand­ed path­ways nes­tled among a young urban for­est, and The Hills offer urban hik­ing paths along­side unpar­al­leled views of Low­er Man­hat­tan and New York Harbor

Bike rentals from Blaz­ing Sad­dles are avail­able dai­ly for vis­i­tors to explore the Island’s sev­en miles of car-free bike paths, with Free Bike Morn­ings every week­day between 10am-12pm and free bike lessons on select sum­mer week­ends. The Island is also home to three CitiBike docks, locat­ed at each fer­ry land­ing and at Pic­nic Point. 

Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment, includ­ing Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams, will open Fri­day-Sun­day and all Fed­er­al Hol­i­days from 10am-5pm start­ing Memo­r­i­al Day Week­end for both ranger-led and self-guid­ed tours. The Urban Farm — home to GrowNYC’s teach­ing gar­den and Earth Mat­ter NY’s Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter and Soil Start Farm — is open week­ends from 12 – 4pm; play:groundNYC’s Adven­ture Play­ground, a unique kids-only space imag­i­na­tion and explo­ration, is open every week­end from 12 – 4pm. 

Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC)’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island will hold pub­lic pro­grams and open stu­dios through­out the sum­mer along­side their annu­al Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val; the Insti­tute for Pub­lic Archi­tec­ture (IPA) will hold open library hours and exhi­bi­tions every week­end; Col­lec­tive Retreats is open through Novem­ber for overnight stays in their glamp­ing-style accom­mo­da­tions along with din­ner and drinks at their Sun­set Ter­race cock­tail bar and Three Peaks Lodge water­front restau­rant; and QC Spa New York is open dai­ly with two heat­ed out­door pools along­side saunas, steam rooms, relax­ation treat­ments, mas­sages, a full-ser­vice bistro, sen­so­ry saunas, a salt room, and more. 

Vis­i­tors will also be able to wit­ness inno­v­a­tive cli­mate solu­tions in action on Gov­er­nors Island this sum­mer — a record-break­ing 17 dif­fer­ent cli­mate pilot­ing projects will be vis­i­ble through­out the Island. Pilot projects will host live demon­stra­tions and work­shops sev­er­al week­ends dur­ing the sum­mer months, with com­mu­ni­ty demon­stra­tion days to be announced. The New York Cli­mate Exchange will also offer tours and info ses­sions, with dates to be announced. 

The Trust will offer wheel­chair-acces­si­ble tram ser­vice, free and avail­able to all guests. These elec­tric acces­si­bil­i­ty vehi­cles will depart from Sois­sons Land­ing and Yan­kee Pier Fri­day through Sun­day from Memo­r­i­al Day to Labor Day, stop­ping at sev­er­al key loca­tions through­out the Island. 

EVENTS

Gov­er­nors Island remains one of New York City’s most unique loca­tions for events of all kinds. See a selec­tion of upcom­ing ear­ly sum­mer events below, with more to be announced through­out the season:

• Gov­er­nors Island Nature Insect Walk – May 30
• Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Council’s Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val – May 31-Octo­ber 26
• Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix – June 7 – 8
• NYC Laven­der Fes­ti­val – June 7 – 8
• Jazz Age Lawn Par­ty – June 14 – 15, August 9 – 10
• Porch Stomp folk music fes­ti­val – June 21
• FAD Mar­ket Gov­er­nors Island pop-ups – June 21 – 22, July 19 – 20, August 16 – 17
• The Great Nosh NYC Pic­nic Fes­ti­val – June 22
• NYCRUNS Fire­crack­er 5K & 10K – July 5
• NYC Poet­ry Fes­ti­val – July 12 – 13
• Sun­dae Ser­mon Music Fes­ti­val: A Best of the Boros Pre­view – July 19

FOOD VEN­DORS

Gov­er­nors Island is a grow­ing culi­nary des­ti­na­tion with a diverse mix of cuisines avail­able to vis­i­tors dai­ly. New offer­ings this year include food at Threes Brew­ing, pow­ered by Brook­lyn-based Grand Army Bar, as well as Pizze­ria Fan­tas­ti­ca — a reimag­ined con­cept in Colonels Row from the Piz­za Yard team.

Return­ing ven­dors include Island Oys­ter, Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny, Lit­tle Eva’s, Taco Vista, Fauzia’s Heav­en­ly Delights, Threes Brew­ing, Sea Bis­cuit, Car­reau Club, Tokyo Drum­stick, La Newyork­i­na, Mak­i­na Café, On Tea Road, and more. The Food­ie Spot — a part­ner­ship with the New York City Hous­ing Author­i­ty (NYCHA)’s Office of Res­i­dent Eco­nom­ic Empow­er­ment and Sus­tain­abil­i­ty — will return to Liggett Ter­race for the fifth year in a row, spot­light­ing small busi­ness­es owned by grad­u­ates of NYCHA’s Food Busi­ness Path­ways pro­gram. Misi­pas­ta x Gov­er­nors Island, an inti­mate out­door sum­mer din­ner series pow­ered by Resy fea­tur­ing food from chef and restau­ran­teur Mis­sy Rob­bins, returns for the fifth sum­mer in a row June 10-August 29. 

Open Dai­ly

• Island Oys­ter – Mon­day-Fri­day, 11am-8pm; Sat­ur­day-Sun­day, 10am-8pm (week­end hours until 10pm begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny in the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing fer­ry ter­mi­nal – Dai­ly, 7am-2pm (open until 4pm begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny at Liggett Ter­race – Week­ends, 10am-5pm (open dai­ly begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Lit­tle Eva’s – Week­days, 11am-5pm; week­ends, 11am-6pm
• Mak­i­na Café – Week­days, 9am-3pm; week­ends, 10am‑4:30pm
• Pizze­ria Fan­tas­ti­ca (for­mer­ly Piz­za Yard) – Dai­ly, 10:30am-5pm
• Taco Vista – Dai­ly, 12 – 4pm
• Three Peaks Lodge at Col­lec­tive Retreats – Dai­ly for Hap­py Hour, din­ner, and bar service

Open Week­ends and Select Weekdays

• Brigs Sweet Shop – Week­ends, 10am-4pm
• Car­reau Club – Week­ends, 12 – 6pm
• Fauzia’s Heav­en­ly Delights – Week­ends, 11am-6pm
• The Food­ie Spot – Fri­day-Sun­day, 11am-5pm
• La Newyork­i­na – Week­ends, 12 – 7 pm
• On Tea Road – Week­ends, 12 – 5pm
• Sea Bis­cuit – Week­ends, 12 – 7pm
• Threes Brew­ing – Week­ends, 11am-6pm 
• Tokyo Drum­stick – Week­ends, 11am-6pm (open Wednes­day-Sun­day begin­ning July 2)

GOV­ER­NORS ISLAND ARTS

Through pub­lic art works, the annu­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence pro­gram, and pub­lic events and pro­gram­ming, Gov­er­nors Island Arts — the arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram pre­sent­ed by the Trust — cre­ates trans­for­ma­tive encoun­ters with art for all New York­ers, invit­ing artists and researchers to engage with the Island’s lay­ered his­to­ries, envi­ron­ments, and archi­tec­ture. Vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org/arts to view the program’s pre­vi­ous­ly announced sea­son of cul­tur­al offer­ings includ­ing group show Rest/​Play, the New York pre­mière of Tou­ki Delphine’s Fire­bird, and more. 

VIS­I­TOR INFORMATION

Gov­er­nors Island’s sum­mer hours will return begin­ning May 23, 2025. From Memo­r­i­al Day through Labor Day, the Island will remain open until 10pm Sun­day-Thurs­day and 11pm Fri­day-Sat­ur­day, with the South Island Park — includ­ing areas like The Hills, Ham­mock Grove, and Pic­nic Point — remain­ing open until dusk. From Labor Day through Memo­r­i­al Day, the Island is open dai­ly from 7am to 6pm. 

Trust for Gov­er­nors Island-oper­at­ed fer­ries run dai­ly between the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan and Sois­sons Land­ing on the Island. Trust-oper­at­ed fer­ries also serve two Brook­lyn loca­tions dur­ing the sum­mer months — Pier Six in Brook­lyn Bridge Park and Atlantic Basin in Red Hook. These routes run direct­ly to Yan­kee Pier on Gov­er­nors Island from each loca­tion every Sat­ur­day, Sun­day, and hol­i­day Mon­day from May 23 through Sep­tem­ber 14, 2025. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, vis­it the Gov­er­nors Island website.

Vis­i­tors are encour­aged to reserve fer­ry tick­ets in advance of their trip through the Gov­er­nors Island web­site. Round-trip fer­ry tick­ets cost $5 for adults. Fer­ries oper­at­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island are always free for chil­dren 12 and under, old­er adults 65 and up, res­i­dents of NYCHA, IDNYC hold­ers, cur­rent and for­mer mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers, and Gov­er­nors Island mem­bers. Fer­ries before 11am on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days are free for all. There is no sur­charge for bicy­cles or strollers on Trust-oper­at­ed fer­ries at any time.

The Trust also offers free fer­ry fares for non­prof­it and com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions, youth camps, and senior cen­ters. To inquire about group vis­its, orga­ni­za­tions may email groupvisits@​govisland.​org.

NYC Fer­ry ser­vice to Gov­er­nors Island on the South Brook­lyn route oper­ates on week­days and non-sum­mer week­ends. On sum­mer week­ends dur­ing the high­est rid­er­ship sea­son, NYC Fer­ry will con­tin­ue to oper­ate its ded­i­cat­ed sea­son­al shut­tle from Pier 11/​Wall Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan. NYC Fer­ry rid­ers may take any route to Pier 11 and trans­fer to the shut­tle for free, or NYC Fer­ry rid­ers may trans­fer for free at either Atlantic Ave/​Pier 6 or Red Hook/​Atlantic Basin to Trust-oper­at­ed Brook­lyn fer­ries. For tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion and full sched­ules for NYC Fer­ry, vis­it the NYC Fer­ry web­site, www.ferry.nyc.

The Gov­er­nors Island 2025 sea­son is gen­er­ous­ly sup­port­ed by The Black­stone Char­i­ta­ble Foun­da­tion, Bloomberg Phil­an­thropies, and STIHL Inc.

“For the past two decades, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island has played a vital role in trans­form­ing this pub­lic resource into a vibrant and acces­si­ble recre­ation­al and edu­ca­tion­al space,” said Con­gress­man Dan Gold­man. ​“By devel­op­ing Gov­er­nors Island into a ver­sa­tile des­ti­na­tion serv­ing a wide range of pur­pos­es, the Trust has cre­at­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties for recre­ation, cul­ture, and con­nec­tion for all New York­ers. I look for­ward to join­ing them this sum­mer for their excit­ing line­up of events.”

“Gov­er­nors Island is tru­ly one of our city’s hid­den gems, and it is hard to believe that this is the 20^th sea­son that it will be open to the pub­lic,” said U.S. Rep. Jer­ry Nadler. ​“I am hon­ored that I worked on reac­quir­ing the Island from the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, and that New York­ers today have this won­der­ful park in the cen­ter of the har­bor to play, explore and relax in. It is tru­ly an incred­i­ble one-of-a-kind New York attraction.”

“For two decades, Gov­er­nors Island has been the per­fect warm-weath­er escape for New York­ers and tourists – there’s more than 120 acres of open space, recre­ation­al activ­i­ties, arts and cul­ture, fam­i­ly pro­gram­ming, and local his­to­ry,” said Man­hat­tan Bor­ough Pres­i­dent Mark Levine. ​“With a five-minute fer­ry ride, you can escape the con­crete jun­gle for a day. I encour­age every­one to take advan­tage of this unique get­away and bask in all that Gov­er­nors Island has to offer.”

“As we mark 20 years of Gov­er­nors Island being open to the pub­lic, I’m proud to cel­e­brate all that this space has become — a hub for recre­ation, edu­ca­tion, cli­mate inno­va­tion, and cul­tur­al vibran­cy,” said Coun­cilmem­ber Christo­pher Marte. ​“For Low­er Man­hat­tan res­i­dents and New York­ers across the city, the Island has trans­formed into an acces­si­ble refuge from the pace of city life, while also serv­ing as a site for for­ward-think­ing cli­mate and sus­tain­abil­i­ty work. I look for­ward to see­ing even more fam­i­lies, stu­dents, and work­ers take the fer­ry this sum­mer to enjoy every­thing this unique space has to offer.”

“The secret is out: in the two decades since it first opened to the pub­lic, Gov­er­nors Island has become one of New York’s great pub­lic spaces, and a place filled with art, edu­ca­tion, sci­ence and recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties,” said State Sen­a­tor Andrew Gounardes. ​“It’s a tru­ly spe­cial place and a much-need­ed oasis in our city where New York­ers can learn, explore and sim­ply enjoy the out­doors. I’m look­ing for­ward to spend­ing time there with my own fam­i­ly this summer.”

“As a father and a life­long New York­er, I’ve always seen Gov­er­nors Island as a place where fam­i­lies, stu­dents, and neigh­bors from every bor­ough can come togeth­er to enjoy the best our city has to offer,” said Assem­bly­man Charles D. Fall. ​“Whether it’s through open space, cul­tur­al events, or cli­mate edu­ca­tion, the Island con­tin­ues to inspire and con­nect us. I’m proud to cel­e­brate 20 years of this incred­i­ble pub­lic trea­sure — and I look for­ward to many more sum­mers of shared memories.”

“I’m thrilled that Gov­er­nors Island has reached the 20-year mile­stone! It is with­out a doubt one of the most spec­tac­u­lar­ly beau­ti­ful spots in New York City,” said Coun­cilmem­ber Lin­coln Restler. ​“I hope Brook­lynites take advan­tage of the easy fer­ry access and enjoy extend­ed evening hours and won­der­ful sum­mer pro­gram­ming on Gov­er­nors Island!”

“For more than twen­ty years, Gov­er­nors Island has been a hid­den gem in our back­yard — wel­com­ing Low­er Man­hat­tan res­i­dents and vis­i­tors alike, and shin­ing as an unpar­al­leled oasis of green space, cul­ture and com­mu­ni­ty!” said Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 Chair, Tam­my Meltzer. ​“We are so proud to cel­e­brate the 20^th sum­mer sea­son with the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, show­cas­ing the bucol­ic park­land and nature, deli­cious fes­ti­vals, inspir­ing art, unfor­get­table con­certs, and inno­v­a­tive cli­mate lead­er­ship. From pic­nick­ing with friends and fir­ing up the bar­be­cue at Pic­nic Point to drift­ing away in Ham­mock Grove, explor­ing the Urban Farm’s gar­dens, or dis­cov­er­ing new works at the LMCC Arts Cen­ter and Artists in Res­i­dence stu­dios — there is so much to do and see, it tru­ly is the place to enjoy all sum­mer long. I urge all to not miss the boat (or the free, wheel­chair-acces­si­ble tram ser­vice) as we can’t wait to see fam­i­lies, neigh­bors, and vis­i­tors enjoy­ing the beau­ti­ful gar­dens, lawns, and all that our urban oasis offers while sad­dling up for bike rides and soak­ing in the spir­it of adven­ture on this extra­or­di­nary island!”

“I’m pleased to wel­come vis­i­tors back to Gov­er­nors Island this sum­mer sea­son,” said Nation­al Park Ser­vice Man­hat­tan Sites Super­in­ten­dent Shirley McK­in­ney. ​“We will con­tin­ue to allow self-guid­ed pub­lic tours of the his­toric forts. Park Rangers will be on site to answer ques­tions and pro­vide infor­ma­tion to our guests.”

Apr 23 12:00 am

Gov­er­nors Island Arts today announced a dynam­ic sea­son of pub­lic art­works and per­for­mances as part of the 2025 sea­son start­ing May 17. The sea­son is anchored by Rest/​Play, a new group exhi­bi­tion that explores the inter­sec­tion of art, design, and pub­lic space, along­side the con­tin­u­a­tion of the INTER­VEN­TIONS per­for­mance series, which will fea­ture the US pre­mière of Lau­ra Cemin and Bian­ca Hisse’s How the Land Lies and the New York City pre­mière of Tou­ki Delphine’s Fire­bird. This spring also marks the return of the sea­son­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence pro­gram, with 24 NYC-based arts non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions invig­o­rat­ing the Island’s his­toric hous­es with sea­son­al instal­la­tions, artist res­i­den­cies, work­shops, and oth­er pub­lic pro­grams. The sea­son will kick off with a spe­cial cel­e­bra­tion, free and open to the pub­lic, on Sat­ur­day, May 17, 2025. 

“As we ush­er in Gov­er­nors Island’s twen­ti­eth year open to the pub­lic, we are proud to present a pro­gram that will con­tin­ue to bring artists, New York­ers, and vis­i­tors from around the world togeth­er to engage with bold pub­lic art and immer­sive open space in a set­ting unlike any oth­er,” said Lau­ren Haynes, Head Cura­tor, Gov­er­nors Island Arts, and Vice Pres­i­dent at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“The exhi­bi­tions, per­for­mances, and pro­grams announced today high­light diverse artis­tic expres­sions, invite moments of deep reflec­tion, and — per­haps most impor­tant­ly — cel­e­brate the myr­i­ad ways we spend our time in this unique place.”

Group Exhi­bi­tion: Rest/​Play

May 17-Novem­ber 2, 2025

Fea­tured artists: Nina Chanel Abney; Lenka Clay­ton & Phillip Andrew Lewis; Arlene Shechet; Hank Willis Thomas; more to be announced.

Rest/​Play invites vis­i­tors to expe­ri­ence Gov­er­nors Island like nev­er before — bal­anc­ing moments of relax­ation with bursts of cre­ativ­i­ty and joy. The exhi­bi­tion is a cel­e­bra­tion of how we spend our time in this unique space, whether it’s unwind­ing or immers­ing our­selves in dynam­ic art. Rest trans­forms the Island with artist-designed seat­ing that merges cre­ativ­i­ty with func­tion. These inno­v­a­tive works not only pro­vide a place to sit and refresh, but also offer a chance to pause, reflect, and recon­nect with the sur­round­ing nature. Play brings ener­gy and col­or to the island, with bold, inter­ac­tive art­works that spark joy and inspire deep reflec­tion. The vibrant use of form and hue cre­ates a sen­so­ry expe­ri­ence that refresh­es both body and mind.

Rest/​Play is curat­ed by Lau­ren Haynes, Head Cura­tor of Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Vice Pres­i­dent at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island.

INTER­VEN­TIONS Per­for­mance Series

Through this site-respon­sive, mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary annu­al per­for­mance series, Gov­er­nors Island Arts presents local, nation­al, and inter­na­tion­al artists and invites audi­ences to expe­ri­ence work made and adapt­ed for out­door spaces. 

How the Land Lies (US Pre­mière)

Lau­ra Cemin and Bian­ca Hisse 

May 17, 2:15 & 7:30PM

May 18, 3PM

Music by Vera Vice

Light­ing design by Sofia Ivarsson

Cos­tume design by Kairi Mahdla

Co-pro­duced by Kias­ma The­ater, and Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava

Fea­tur­ing five local dancers, How the Land Lies, direct­ed and chore­o­graphed by Lau­ra Cemin and Bian­ca Hisse, is a per­for­mance piece incor­po­rat­ing move­ment and scrolling LED signs. Usu­al­ly encoun­tered in pub­lic spaces as low-key adver­tise­ments, the LEDs become ves­sels to con­vey how lan­guage influ­ences mobil­i­ty. While the scrolling text flash­es tourism slo­gans and visa ques­tion­naires, the dancers — all of whom car­ry expe­ri­ences of migra­tion — inter­act with the signs through move­ment. Mean­ings unfold and bor­ders slow­ly blur: who can stay and who must leave? Who is seen and who remains hid­den? What is allowed and what is forbidden?

Fire­bird (NYC Pre­mière)

Tou­ki Delphine 

Octo­ber 3, 7PM

Octo­ber 4, 7PM

Con­cept, music and visu­als by Bo Koek, John van Oost­rum, Rik Elst­geest, and Chris Doyle

Con­cept and design by John van Oost­rum, The­un Mosk

Sound design by Toon Boland

Ams­ter­dam-based artist col­lec­tive Tou­ki Delphine’s Fire­bird, pre­vi­ous­ly pre­sent­ed at Mass MoCA, fea­tures an orches­tra of light made from more than 600 recy­cled car tail­lights that illu­mi­nate the dance of the fire­bird. A thor­ough­ly hyp­not­ic expe­ri­ence, this rule-break­ing con­cert pro­gram and extra-ter­res­tri­al instal­la­tion con­nects sound and light to cre­ate a sym­pho­ny of light re-envi­sion­ing Igor Stravinsky’s 1919 Fire­bird Suite as an homage. On Gov­er­nors Island, the work will illu­mi­nate the Parade Ground, an expan­sive field with the Low­er Man­hat­tan sky­line act­ing as backdrop. 

Pre­vi­ous per­for­mances pre­sent­ed as part of this series include works by Modesto ​“Flako” Jimenez, Indige­nous Enter­prise, Dance Hegin­both­am, Rena Anakwe, Inua Ellams, and Lenio Kak­lea. INTER­VEN­TIONS is curat­ed by Juan Pablo Siles, Asso­ciate Cura­tor and Pro­duc­er at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. Tick­ets to all per­for­mances will be avail­able online at www​.gov​is​land​.org.

Pub­lic Art 

There are cur­rent­ly sev­en tem­po­rary and long-term pub­lic art­works, pre­sent­ed through Gov­er­nors Island Arts, on dis­play year-round through­out Gov­er­nors Island’s park and his­toric land­scapes: Sheila Berger’s BIRD MMXXI­II, Sam Van Aken’s The Open Orchard, Duke Riley’s Not for Nut­ten, Mark Dion’s The Field Sta­tion of the Melan­choly Marine Biol­o­gist, Shantell Martin’s Church, Rachel Whiteread’s Cab­in, and Mark Handforth’s Yan­kee Hang­er.

Enjoy more ways to con­nect with pub­lic art via the Gov­er­nors Island guide avail­able on Bloomberg Con­nects, the free arts and cul­ture app. Deep dive into the Island’s art­works with an inter­ac­tive map, a self-guid­ed walk­ing tour, audio com­men­tary by cura­tors, and much more. 

Orga­ni­za­tions in Residence

Each year, two dozen arts and cul­tur­al non­prof­its uti­lize space inside the his­toric hous­es of Nolan Park and Colonels Row to present a robust cal­en­dar of free pub­lic pro­grams, host artist res­i­den­cies, and engage vis­i­tors in spe­cial activ­i­ties for all ages — includ­ing the return of month­ly THIRD Sat­ur­days, with spe­cial per­for­mances and more. Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence are open week­ends from 11am-5pm, May 17-Novem­ber 2, 2025. 

• Amer­i­can Indi­an Com­mu­ni­ty House Man­hat­tan
• AnkhLave Arts Alliance Man­hat­tan
• Art­Crawl Harlem Man­hat­tan
• BronxArt­Space The Bronx
• Bronx Coun­cil on the Arts The Bronx
• Bil­lion Oys­ter Project Man­hat­tan
• I am caribBE­ING Brook­lyn
• Cli­mate Imag­i­nar­i­um Man­hat­tan
• Dancers Unlim­it­ed Brook­lyn*
• DuYe Moves Brook­lyn
• Escap­ing Time: Art from U.S. Pris­ons Man­hat­tan
• Filmshop Man­hat­tan
• For­est for Trees Col­lec­tive Brook­lyn*
• Har­vest­works Man­hat­tan
• KODA Brook­lyn
• The Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary African Dias­po­ran Arts (MoCA­DA) Brook­lyn
• New York Latin Amer­i­can Art Tri­en­ni­al Man­hat­tan
• Res­i­den­cy Unlim­it­ed (RU) Brook­lyn
• The Super­Geo­graph­ics Brook­lyn*
• Swale Brook­lyn
• Tai­wanese Amer­i­can Arts Coun­cil Queens
• West Harlem Art Fund Man­hat­tan

*First time pro­gram participants.

Gov­er­nors Island Arts presents its pro­gram with sup­port from Bloomberg Phil­an­thropies, Cha­ri­na Endow­ment Fund, Star­dust Fund, Sur­go Foun­da­tion US, Don­ald A. Pels Char­i­ta­ble Trust, the New York State Coun­cil on the Arts (NYSCA) with the sup­port of the Office of the Gov­er­nor and the New York State Leg­is­la­ture, Car­rie Den­ning Jack­son and Dan Jack­son, the Rip­ple Foun­da­tion, the Howard Gilman Foun­da­tion, and the Jerome L. Greene Foundation.

Mar 4 3:44 pm

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island announced today the win­ners of the annu­al Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge. The sec­ond annu­al call for pro­pos­als focused on the theme of Cir­cu­lar Econ­o­my, seek­ing projects and tech­nolo­gies that reduce the cli­mate impact of the urban waste stream and extend resource recov­ery to busi­ness­es and neigh­bor­hoods. Win­ners will receive a site on Gov­er­nors Island to demon­strate their projects, grant awards of $10,000, and access to a com­mon pool of addi­tion­al funds to sup­port pilot implementation. 

“The selec­tion of the sec­ond annu­al Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge win­ners exem­pli­fies New York City’s posi­tion as a glob­al hub for cli­mate inno­va­tion and lever­ages the unique assets at Gov­er­nors Island to incu­bate cli­mate solu­tions,” said First Deputy May­or Maria Tor­res-Springer. ​“Con­grat­u­la­tions to the win­ners of the chal­lenge, who will undoubt­ed­ly demon­strate impact­ful tech­nolo­gies to sup­port a more cir­cu­lar economy.”

“Gov­er­nors Island has become a mean­ing­ful test­bed for inno­v­a­tive solu­tions that will cre­ate more resilient and sus­tain­able cities,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“These chal­lenge win­ners are ded­i­cat­ed to build­ing a bet­ter future and to grow­ing their busi­ness­es here in New York City. We look for­ward to all they will learn and accom­plish dur­ing their time on the Island and can­not wait to wel­come all New York­ers to come out and engage with these projects this summer.” 

“Invest­ment in inno­v­a­tive tech­nol­o­gy — and the indi­vid­u­als devel­op­ing it — is an invest­ment in our col­lec­tive future,” said Lau­ren Wang, Direc­tor of Cli­mate Pro­grams at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Shift­ing to a cir­cu­lar econ­o­my that reuses, refur­bish­es, and recov­ers is key to achiev­ing an equi­table, net-zero city. We look for­ward to sup­port­ing these com­pa­nies on their jour­neys while shin­ing a light on how solu­tions move from con­cept to scal­able product.” 

Projects select­ed fol­low­ing from this year’s Cir­cu­lar Econ­o­my Chal­lenge are:

• Arbon, a Direct Air Cap­ture (DAC) com­pa­ny that will pilot their humid­i­ty-swing tech­nol­o­gy to cap­ture and store CO2 (car­bon diox­ide) from ambi­ent air using an ener­gy-effi­cient, durable, and afford­able process, while also gen­er­at­ing car­bon cred­its and enabling down­stream appli­ca­tions of cap­tured CO2. Founder: Xiaoyang Shi
• Birdsview, a Nor­we­gian-based com­pa­ny that will pilot their ground-pen­e­trat­ing radar (GPR) struc­tur­al assess­ment tech­nol­o­gy, which uses pro­pri­etary analy­sis soft­ware to assess the inter­nal con­di­tion of build­ings and reduces waste by opti­miz­ing the preser­va­tion of exist­ing struc­tures. Founders: Olav Sko­gen and Simen Husøy
• Car­bon­CLAIR, a New York-based com­pa­ny ded­i­cat­ed to improv­ing urban air qual­i­ty by cap­tur­ing pol­lu­tants and CO2 in out­door envi­ron­ments, while pro­duc­ing a byprod­uct with com­mon indus­tri­al appli­ca­tions. They will pilot their off-grid mobile air qual­i­ty unit at a con­struc­tion and demo­li­tion site. Founders: Fares Al-Iahabi and Nazare­na Soria Hadad
• CO Adap­tive, a Brook­lyn-based com­pa­ny that will pilot their mod­u­lar wall sys­tem, made of reclaimed lum­ber, to retro­fit exist­ing build­ings to pas­sive house lev­el stan­dards of air­tight­ness and ener­gy effi­cien­cy. Founders: Ruth Man­dl and Bob­by Johnston
• Mira Intel, a New York-based com­pa­ny that will pilot their drone-based struc­tur­al assess­ments and pro­pri­etary analy­sis soft­ware to enhance build­ing and infra­struc­ture resilience through enhanced mon­i­tor­ing capabilities. Founder: Danielle Nicholson
• Phy­to­stone LLC, a woman-owned stu­dio mak­ing advanced nat­ur­al build­ing mate­ri­als. They will pilot Cast Car­bon, a biochar-enriched archi­tec­tur­al wall tile that is biodegrad­able, effi­cient­ly stores car­bon from sal­vaged pine pal­lets through a low-car­bon man­u­fac­tur­ing process and is mold-proof and fire­proof. Founder: Emi­ly Majewski
• Plan­taer, a Brook­lyn-based com­pa­ny ded­i­cat­ed to trans­form­ing urban envi­ron­ments through archi­tec­tur­al solu­tions that inte­grate veg­e­ta­tion direct­ly into build­ing mate­ri­als. They will pilot their liv­ing con­crete façade tech­nol­o­gy, a low car­bon, engi­neered con­crete that improves air qual­i­ty and mit­i­gates extreme heat. Founder: Manuel Ben­itez Ruiz
• Rego, the dig­i­tal util­i­ty meter for waste man­age­ment, which pro­vides pho­to and AI-based waste audits to track and ana­lyze waste streams in cities and increas­es diver­sion from land­fills. Founder: Josh Mastromatto

Of the select­ed pilots, 75 per­cent are local­ly based, 50 per­cent are minor­i­ty-led, and 50 per­cent are women-led. Pilots will be installed on Gov­er­nors Island over the com­ing months for peri­ods span­ning six to 18 months, with pub­lic Demo Days to be held through­out the year. 

Since its launch in 2023, the Trust’s Cli­mate Solu­tions Pilot­ing Pro­gram has sup­port­ed 14 dif­fer­ent projects with diverse rep­re­sen­ta­tion across busi­ness and non­prof­it sec­tors. Through this ini­tia­tive, the Trust makes the Island avail­able as a site for star­tups, small busi­ness­es, entre­pre­neurs, and non­prof­its to test ear­ly-stage cli­mate prod­ucts and ser­vices; col­lect data in a real-world envi­ron­ment; and direct­ly engage with fun­ders, investors, cus­tomers, and the Island’s near­ly one mil­lion annu­al vis­i­tors. In addi­tion to a themed annu­al chal­lenge, the pro­gram also includes a year-round gen­er­al appli­ca­tion seek­ing self-fund­ed pilot­ing pro­pos­als across all cli­mate sec­tors. For more infor­ma­tion and for a full list of cur­rent and past projects, click here.

“As a close part­ner of Gov­er­nors Island, we at The New York Cli­mate Exchange are excit­ed to see the ground­break­ing projects select­ed for this year’s Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge come to life,” said Shaina Horowitz, Direc­tor of Pro­gram­ming Inno­va­tion and Accel­er­a­tion at The Exchange. ​“Sup­port­ing cre­ative solu­tions and test­ing tech­nolo­gies that reduce urban waste and pro­mote a cir­cu­lar econ­o­my is crit­i­cal to our green eco­nom­ic trans­for­ma­tion, and Gov­er­nors Island can be a mod­el for New York City and beyond.”

“We con­grat­u­late the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island on the sec­ond annu­al cohort of pilot­ing projects and look for­ward to see­ing the pos­i­tive impact they will have on the com­mu­ni­ty. The busi­ness­es announced today are on the cut­ting edge of inno­v­a­tive approach­es to move towards a more cir­cu­lar econ­o­my, and we’re proud to sup­port their work through the Trust’s Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge,” said Sal­ly Fouts, Glob­al Leader, The Cli­mate Pledge at Amazon.

“We’re proud to sup­port The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island’s sec­ond annu­al Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge,” said Tim Caw­ley, the chair­man and CEO of Con Edison. ​“This ini­tia­tive aligns with our com­mit­ment to fos­ter­ing sus­tain­able prac­tices and advanc­ing solu­tions that reduce waste and build a clean­er future. Gov­er­nors Island serves as a cru­cial test­ing ground for the win­ners to show­case their trans­for­ma­tive solu­tions for New York’s homes, busi­ness­es, and neigh­bor­hoods. We look for­ward to the progress and insights these projects will yield and we invite all New York­ers to vis­it Gov­er­nors Island to learn and expe­ri­ence first­hand the inge­nu­ity that will shape a more sus­tain­able future.”

The Trust’s cli­mate pro­grams are made pos­si­ble with the gen­er­ous sup­port of Ama­zon, Con Edi­son, Deutsche Bank, Don­ald A. Pels Char­i­ta­ble Trust, LISC, and the New York Com­mu­ni­ty Trust.

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is a core mem­ber of the Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive (HCC), a joint ini­tia­tive with New York City Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion and Brook­lyn Navy Yard Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion to grow the city’s cli­mate ecosys­tem through pilot­ing pro­grams, leas­es, work­force devel­op­ment invest­ments, and reg­u­la­to­ry wayfind­ing. Today’s announce­ment under­scores the collaborative’s com­mit­ment to dou­ble the num­ber of pilot­ing projects across these three sites. 

Gov­er­nors Island is at the fore­front of research­ing and demon­strat­ing urban cli­mate solu­tions, offer­ing a unique water­front envi­ron­ment; an award-win­ning park engi­neered for cli­mate change; near­ly one mil­lion annu­al vis­i­tors; oppor­tu­ni­ties for research and pilot­ing; pub­lic art­works engag­ing with cli­mate issues; and a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of edu­ca­tion­al, non­prof­it, and com­mer­cial ten­ants focused on cli­mate — includ­ing Bil­lion Oys­ter Project, the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School, the soon-to-open But­ter­milk Labs, and more. In 2020, the Trust and the New York City Mayor’s Office announced a vision to cre­ate the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions, a com­mu­ni­ty on Gov­er­nors Island to accel­er­ate cli­mate solu­tions for cities. In April 2023, The New York Cli­mate Exchange, led by Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty and a con­sor­tium of part­ners, was select­ed as the initiative’s anchor insti­tu­tion fol­low­ing a two-year com­pet­i­tive process. The Exchange will devel­op a $700-mil­lion cam­pus on the Island focused on advanc­ing cli­mate solu­tions and prepar­ing New York­ers for green jobs.

Jan 16 9:58 am

Today, Gov­er­nors Island Arts announced final­ists set to com­pete in the fourth annu­al Gov­er­nors Island Ice Sculp­ture Show, set to take place on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025, from 12 to 3p.m. This unique annu­al event pro­vides New York­ers and vis­i­tors from around the world with the sin­gu­lar oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence live ice carv­ing along­side the open space, and cul­tur­al, edu­ca­tion­al, and his­toric resources and attrac­tions that Gov­er­nors Island offers year-round. 

“We are so excit­ed for these artists to carve their cre­ations to life, and for Island vis­i­tors to wit­ness this event in Colonels Row for the fourth year in a row,” said Lau­ren Haynes, Head Cura­tor, Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Vice Pres­i­dent at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“With our col­lec­tion of pub­lic art­works and per­for­mances and pro­gram­ming, the Island is one of New York’s most inter­est­ing des­ti­na­tions for arts and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence in all seasons.”

2025 Ice Sculp­ture Show Finalists:

• Ana Añu (@soopspoon) – ​“Bear Wit­ness,” Añu’s ecopo­et­ic sculp­ture that reflects the impor­tance of ani­mism in cli­mate sto­ry­telling, will call for audi­ence mem­bers to wit­ness the qui­et voic­es of the elemental. 

• Eli­jah Chavez (@lijahchavez.art) – ​“Lo que pasará, pasará” will depict an anatom­i­cal human heart while serv­ing as a com­mu­ni­ty alter inspired by the Mex­i­can cus­toms of the Day of the Dead. 

• Jake DeMar­ti­ni (@the­jakeweight) – A nod to 19^th-cen­tu­ry mar­itime his­to­ry, DeMartini’s ​“Moor­ing Bol­lard” hon­ors the tit­u­lar object’s min­i­mal design and engi­neer­ing along­side Gov­er­nors Island’s nau­ti­cal history. 

• Shawn Hill (@ublincd) – Select­ed in hon­or of Hill’s child­hood cre­ativ­i­ty, ​“Tuft­ed Tit­mouse” will depict this species of bird that is com­mon­ly seen on Gov­er­nors Island. 

• Aharon Levy – Levy’s ​“Gov­er­nors Island: New York Oasis” will explore the ten­sion between nature and urban envi­ron­ments, depict­ing a tree encased in ice and offer­ing a reflec­tion on imper­ma­nence, cli­mate change, and nature’s resilience. 

• Agusti­na Markez (@agusti­na­markezs­tu­dio) – Markez will explore the star as a sym­bol both in the con­text of nature and pop cul­ture through ​“Inter­twined Stars,” which inves­ti­gates iden­ti­ty and dis­place­ment in rela­tion to Amer­i­can culture. 

• Josef Pin­lac (@istill­heart­newyork) – Pin­lac will cel­e­brate pol­li­na­tors in ​“Ice ice bay-bee,” incor­po­rat­ing hon­ey­comb designs and hon­or­ing the Island’s bee population. 

• Sonya Sobies­ki (@crookedsquare) –Sobieski’s ​“Look­ing Out” will depict an over­sized pair of binoc­u­lars with birds com­mon­ly seen on Gov­er­nors Island etched into the lens­es, ask­ing the view­er, ​“can we look out for nature?”. 

• Kate­ri­na Sokolovskaya (@katerina.sokolovskaya.art) – In ​“Nature+,” Sokolovskaya will explore how peo­ple coex­ist with their sur­round­ings, show­ing how bod­ies influ­ence one anoth­er and inter­act with the environment. 

• Mai Sone (@mai__sone) – In hon­or of the Island’s acorn-like shape, Sone will sculpt ​“A squir­rel eat­ing Gov­er­nors Island.”

The ten final­ists were cho­sen fol­low­ing an open call seek­ing designs inspired by the theme ​“Gov­er­nors Island + nature.” Final­ists will be paired with a pro­fes­sion­al ice carv­er from Okamo­to Stu­dio dur­ing the free pub­lic event on Gov­er­nors Island on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025. Vis­i­tors are invit­ed to wit­ness this real-time ice carv­ing from 12 to 2 p.m. and enjoy an awards cer­e­mo­ny and ice sculp­ture instal­la­tion from 2 to 3p.m. — includ­ing the audi­ence-vot­ed ​“People’s Choice” award. The event will include ice carv­ing work­shops from Okamo­to Stu­dio, crafts from Red Hook Art Project, live music from dis­co-infused Afro­fu­tur­ist funk duo The Illus­tri­ous Blacks, and a spe­cial per­for­mance by NYC-based all-women, trans, and non-bina­ry drum­line Fogo Azul. Mak­i­na Café will be open in Colonels Row along­side addi­tion­al food trucks Nao Caribbean Fla­vors, The Orig­i­nal Soup­man, and Deploy Cof­fee, curat­ed by Four Wheel Feasts.

Dur­ing the win­ter months, Gov­er­nors Island is open to the pub­lic dai­ly from 7a.m. to 6p.m. Trust for Gov­er­nors Island-oper­at­ed fer­ries run dai­ly between the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan and Sois­sons Land­ing on the Island. Round-trip fer­ry tick­ets cost $5 for adults. Gov­er­nors Island fer­ries are always free for chil­dren 12 and under, old­er adults ages 65 and up, res­i­dents of NYCHA, IDNYC hold­ers, cur­rent and for­mer mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers, and Gov­er­nors Island mem­bers. Fer­ries before 11a.m. on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days are free for all. There is no sur­charge for bicy­cles or strollers at any time. For sched­ules and tick­ets, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org/​ferry.

NYC Fer­ry, the city’s pub­lic fer­ry ser­vice, also serves Gov­er­nors Island dai­ly on the South Brook­lyn Route dur­ing the win­ter months, with stops in Low­er Man­hat­tan and along the Brook­lyn water­front. Sched­ules and more infor­ma­tion avail­able on their web­site at www.ferry.nyc.

Gov­er­nors Island’s award-win­ning park is open to the pub­lic every day, along with recre­ation activ­i­ties like bike rentals, Ham­mock Grove, The Hills, Pic­nic Point, and more. Gov­er­nors Island Arts pub­lic art works, includ­ing pieces by Duke Riley, Sam Van Aken, Rachel Whiteread, Mark Dion, Sheila Berg­er, Shantell Mar­tin, and Mark Hand­forth are also cur­rent­ly on view through­out the Island. This win­ter also marks the return of Win­ter Dog Days, where dogs are allowed on Gov­er­nors Island dai­ly from Decem­ber to April. Dogs must be leashed while on Gov­er­nors Island except for in the Win­ter Dog Park, locat­ed in Colonels Row and open through March. 

Dec 31 10:18 am

As we reflect on an incred­i­ble year and look ahead towards 2025, which will mark 20 years of pub­lic access, we are grate­ful for the com­mu­ni­ty of New York­ers that hop on the fer­ry each day to work, learn, eat, play, relax, research, and cre­ate on Gov­er­nors Island.

We are pleased to share our 2024 Year in Review, detail­ing a year of his­toric accom­plish­ments — includ­ing wel­com­ing the most vis­i­tors in the Island’s his­to­ry, expand­ing our role as a leader in accel­er­at­ing cli­mate solu­tions, and delight­ing vis­i­tors with sin­gu­lar cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences. Read on for high­lights, and click here to read the full report.

UNPAR­AL­LELED OPEN SPACE & RECREATION

With 120 acres of open space, includ­ing a 43-acre cli­mate-resilient park, 12 acres of ath­let­ic fields, 7 miles of car-free bike paths, and unique nat­ur­al areas, Gov­er­nors Island is a remark­able out­door resource in all sea­sons. This year, we cel­e­brat­ed the Year of Milk­weed and the pow­er of native plants, con­tin­ued to cre­ate a more resilient and thriv­ing open space, host­ed near­ly 95 events, and wel­comed near­ly 970,000 indi­vid­u­als from New York City and around the world. Read more →

TRANS­FOR­MA­TIVE ARTS & CULTURE

2024 marked a remark­able year of growth for Gov­er­nors Island Arts. We wel­comed Lau­ren Haynes as Head Cura­tor, Gov­er­nors Island Arts, and Vice Pres­i­dent, pre­sent­ed Jen­ny Kendler’s ground­break­ing Oth­er of Pearl with NRDC (Nat­ur­al Resources Defense Coun­cil), held a series of site-respon­sive per­for­mances high­light­ing acclaimed artists from around the world, and host­ed a cohort of 21 sea­son­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence in Nolan Park and Colonels Row. Read more →

ACCEL­ER­AT­ING CLI­MATE SOLUTIONS

Gov­er­nors Island is cre­at­ing a com­mu­ni­ty to accel­er­ate cli­mate solu­tions for cities and their pop­u­la­tions. This year, we show­cased inno­v­a­tive cli­mate tech through our pilot­ing pro­gram, restored the inte­ri­or of Build­ing 309 to serve as a com­mu­ni­ty con­ven­ing resource for cli­mate orga­ni­za­tions, and fos­tered a col­lab­o­ra­tive com­mu­ni­ty of ten­ants and part­ners work­ing in cli­mate. Read more →

FOS­TER­ING A THRIV­ING YEAR-ROUND COMMUNITY

Gov­er­nors Island is home to a grow­ing group of edu­ca­tion­al, non­prof­it, and com­mer­cial ten­ants. In 2024, many ten­ants cel­e­brat­ed mile­stones – includ­ing the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School, which broke ground on a his­toric expan­sion; Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil, which cel­e­brat­ed its 50^th anniver­sary year; and QC NY, which opened a brand-new 15,000-square-foot restau­rant in the new­ly restored Build­ing 111. Read more →

Nov 19 11:07 am

On Mon­day, Novem­ber 18, 2024, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island (TGI), New York City Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion (NYCEDC), and Brook­lyn Navy Yard Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion (BNY­DC) held a Cli­mate Tech­nol­o­gy Show­case. Togeth­er, the three mis­sion-aligned pub­lic enti­ties with sites along the New York Har­bor, and con­nect­ed by NYC Fer­ry, are com­mit­ted to mak­ing New York City the glob­al cap­i­tal of cli­mate inno­va­tion through pilot­ing pro­grams, leas­es, work­force devel­op­ment invest­ments, and reg­u­la­to­ry wayfind­ing. The Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive (HCC) is pledg­ing to dou­ble the num­ber of pilots con­duct­ed across the col­lab­o­ra­tive and struc­ture the pro­gram so that com­pa­nies ben­e­fit from both cam­pus-spe­cif­ic expe­ri­ences and col­lab­o­ra­tive-wide net­works, and fund­ing opportunities.

The NYC Cli­mate Tech­nol­o­gy Show­case high­lights the col­lec­tive impact of pilot­ing across the HCC while also pro­vid­ing addi­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties for par­tic­i­pat­ing com­pa­nies to grow and scale their busi­ness­es in New York City and increase expo­sure to prospec­tive cus­tomers, both gov­ern­men­tal and in the pri­vate sec­tor. Over 40 star­tups par­tic­i­pat­ed, and the event fea­tured demon­stra­tions of inno­v­a­tive cli­mate tech­nol­o­gy from six dif­fer­ent companies.

“New York City’s ded­i­ca­tion to grow­ing the green econ­o­my is stronger than ever and the role of cities as engines of inno­va­tion has nev­er been more impor­tant than in the urgent work to com­bat cli­mate change,” said First Deputy May­or Maria Tor­res-Springer. ​“The city’s com­mit­ment and cre­ativ­i­ty are exem­pli­fied by the Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive, a part­ner­ship between the Brook­lyn Navy Yard Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion, Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, and the New York City Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion that deploys city-con­trolled cam­pus­es in the defin­ing fight of our time and helps build a vibrant cli­mate tech ecosys­tem in the city of New York.”

“Today’s show­case, high­light­ing more than 40 part­ners from across the Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive, demon­strates what’s pos­si­ble when inno­va­tors are giv­en the space and resources need­ed to grow,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Through the city’s ecosys­tem of pilot­ing sites, includ­ing Gov­er­nors Island, we’ve been able to accel­er­ate real-world test­ing, help­ing to pro­pel these com­pa­nies into their next stages of devel­op­ment and giv­ing New York­ers a front-row seat to the tools to fight cli­mate change.”

“The Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive is a unique col­lab­o­ra­tion of three mas­sive for­mer mil­i­tary bases that are being trans­formed to fight cli­mate change, the glob­al threat of our time,” said NYCEDC Pres­i­dent & CEO Andrew Kim­ball. ​“Today’s show­case high­lights some of the amaz­ing entre­pre­neurs and tech­nol­o­gy already being pilot­ed at our three sites to unlock eco­nom­ic growth, cre­ate jobs, and pave the way for a green­er, more resilient future.”

“Since the launch of the Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive ear­li­er this year, we’ve made tremen­dous progress towards our com­mit­ment of mak­ing New York City the epi­cen­ter of cli­mate tech R&D, and pro­duc­tion,” said Lind­say Greene, Pres­i­dent and CEO, Brook­lyn Navy Yard Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion. ​“From fur­ther­ing EV solu­tions in urban envi­ron­ments to test­ing marine-based car­bon cap­ture in one of the busiest har­bors in the world, we’ve suc­cess­ful­ly lever­aged our water­front assets to iden­ti­fy and advance the solu­tions we will need to com­bat cli­mate change. We look for­ward to dou­bling down on this crit­i­cal work next year.”

“The HCC will be an engine of eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ty for New York­ers that inte­grates edu­ca­tion, train­ing and career place­ment for 2100 New York­ers and will help posi­tion the city’s diverse tal­ent for green col­lar jobs that are crit­i­cal to grow­ing the green econ­o­my,” said Abby Jo Sigal, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Tal­ent and Work­force Devel­op­ment. ​“The city’s green econ­o­my will cre­ate 400,000 jobs, includ­ing 12,000 appren­tice­ships by 2040, and the crit­i­cal role that the HCC will play in con­nect­ing local tal­ent to these oppor­tu­ni­ties will make our econ­o­my more inclu­sive, resilient, and green.”

“New York City is where the world’s bright­est minds come to test and exe­cute their best ideas on the biggest stage,” said New York City Chief Tech­nol­o­gy Offi­cer Matthew Fras­er. ​“Today’s event demon­strates this admin­is­tra­tion’s com­mit­ment to col­lab­o­rate across sec­tors, indus­tries, and bor­ders to build a glob­al hub for urban inno­va­tion. Our efforts to stream­line and accel­er­ate the pilot­ing process for emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies, through ini­tia­tives such as the NYC Smart City Test­bed Pro­gram, allow us to bet­ter eval­u­ate and poten­tial­ly scale solu­tions to our most press­ing chal­lenges — a win for tech com­pa­nies, city gov­ern­ment, and, most impor­tant­ly, 8.3 mil­lion New York­ers. I thank the mem­bers of the Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive for their part­ner­ship in this impor­tant work.”

The Adams Admin­is­tra­tion has com­mit­ted to mak­ing New York City a glob­al hub of urban inno­va­tion – one of the 40 ini­tia­tives laid out in the ​“New” New York Action Plan. Fol­low­ing this com­mit­ment, the NYCEDC part­nered with the Cor­nell Tech’s Jacobs Urban Tech Hub to release Pilot:New York City as a road map to accel­er­ate urban inno­va­tion in New York City. The for­ma­tion of the HCC builds on May­or Adams’ efforts to devel­op a ​“Har­bor of the Future,” a mul­ti­fac­eted ini­tia­tive, and the ​“Green Econ­o­my Action Plan” — both announced by May­or Adams in his 2024 State of the City address to reimag­ine New York City’s water­front and fuel 21^st-cen­tu­ry growth and innovation.

As the core of New York City’s bur­geon­ing cli­mate inno­va­tion ecosys­tem, the HCC will invest over $725 mil­lion to advance New York’s green econ­o­my in NYCEDC’s Sun­set Park Dis­trict, the Brook­lyn Navy Yard, and on Gov­er­nors Island. The invest­ments sup­port cli­mate inno­va­tors through pilot­ing, ten­ant­i­ng, reg­u­la­to­ry coor­di­na­tion, work­force devel­op­ment, knowledge/​data shar­ing, fundrais­ing, and facil­i­tat­ing access to City agen­cies. The HCC, launched from the Adams’ Admin­is­tra­tion Green Econ­o­my Action Plan, unlocks six mil­lion square feet of space, will sup­port the cre­ation of 5,000 jobs, edu­cate and train 2,100 stu­dents, and gen­er­ate $55 bil­lion of eco­nom­ic impact.

Through­out the last year, the HCC has gath­ered crit­i­cal insights into the col­lec­tive impact of pilot­ing across our dif­fer­ent cam­pus­es. Between 2023 – 2024, 19 green econ­o­my founders and cli­mate tech com­pa­nies com­plet­ed or had an active pilot at one or more of the HCC pilot sites, includ­ing TGI’s Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge, NYCEDC’s Pilots at BAT pro­gram, and BNY­D­C’s Yard Labs.

Insights from the last year show that cli­mate tech­nolo­gies come from all over the world with com­pa­nies cut­ting across a range of green econ­o­my indus­tries, includ­ing resilience infra­struc­ture, build­ings, trans­porta­tion, and ener­gy. Com­pa­nies come to New York City to pilot at var­i­ous devel­op­ment stages but tend to be in the deploy­ment stage. Through pilot­ing their tech­nolo­gies along the East Riv­er water­front, the indus­tri­al envi­ron­ment of all three HCC sites, com­pa­nies have been able to:

• Col­lect data that helps com­pa­nies iter­ate and improve their product;
• Demon­strate com­mer­cial viability;
• Raise expo­sure of their cli­mate tech­nolo­gies to both the investors and the public;
• Gain entry into the New York City mar­ket and tai­lor ser­vices to New York;
• Secure indus­try cer­ti­fi­ca­tions, dur­ing the pilot phase or plan to get their cer­ti­fi­ca­tion upon com­plet­ing their pilot;
• Expand their foot­print in New York City, includ­ing mak­ing new con­nec­tions with city agen­cies, expand­ing to new office, lab or fac­to­ry space, and cre­at­ing new investor con­nec­tions; and
• Onboard­ed new interns, trainees, full or part time staff, cre­at­ing an aver­age of four new jobs per pilot project.

“This pilot serves as a proof-of-con­cept demon­stra­tion and has accel­er­at­ed our growth in NYC, LA, and Detroit. This project has helped us gen­er­ate rev­enue, col­lect real-world data, part­ner with more than 20 cus­tomers to help move their goods, and raise $100k in grant fund­ing to bring our 100% elec­tric freight mobil­i­ty solu­tions to oth­er cities across the US,” said Emis­sion­less Founder Max Yer­gan.

“Both pilots have accel­er­at­ed our prod­uct devel­op­ment to val­i­date how our sys­tem can be installed in build­ings and how it can be iter­at­ed to meet real-world con­straints. Fol­low­ing our pilot at Gov­er­nors Island, we received mul­ti­ple inquiries from cus­tomers inter­est­ed in com­mer­cial­ly test­ing our sys­tem at their facil­i­ties. These pilot oppor­tu­ni­ties like­ly brought down our go-to-mar­ket time­line from 24 months to at least six months,” said LÆRO Design Stu­dio Founder & CEO Noe­mi Flo­rea.

“Matcha’s pilot at the Brook­lyn Army Ter­mi­nal was an accel­er­ant to our entry into New York. The pilot helped Matcha demon­strate the reli­a­bil­i­ty of its EV charg­ing soft­ware, gain approval from NYSER­DA, and gen­er­ate press,” said Matcha Co-founder and CEO Chris Klue­sen­er.

“Beyond real sav­ings data cap­tured, the pilot helped us fig­ure out ways to improve our soft­ware in a real pro­duc­tion envi­ron­ment. For exam­ple, when the pilot site had a black­out event dur­ing a pow­er surge in the grid, 7 of 25 of our smart plugs could not recon­nect to Wi-Fi. We have since devel­oped a more robust IoT pro­to­col to over­come this sit­u­a­tion. With these issues iden­ti­fied and resolved at a small scale, we then gain the con­fi­dence and abil­i­ty to install at a larg­er scale (>50 out­lets per account). This is why the pilot is very impor­tant to us — to val­i­date our con­cept with real data and find loop­holes in our prod­uct to improve,” said Revert Tech­nolo­gies Co-founder and CEO Ryan Li.

“This pilot with DOT and NYCEDC has giv­en us the oppor­tu­ni­ty to refine our prod­uct and ser­vice offer­ing for NYC’s deliv­ery work­ers, ensur­ing that it is built with their spe­cif­ic needs in mind. DOT and NYCEDC cleared the way for us to be able to build safe charg­ing infra­struc­ture for NYC’s streets, and we look for­ward to con­tin­u­ing to work togeth­er,” said Swobbee US Man­ag­ing Direc­tor Stephan von Wolff.

“Our pilot at TGI has been instru­men­tal in our com­pa­ny’s suc­cess, gen­er­at­ing crit­i­cal data to iter­ate and improve our prod­uct inter­nal­ly, while show­ing exter­nal­ly that our prod­uct works and what its ben­e­fits are to secure new cus­tomers, investors, com­mu­ni­ty part­ners, and tal­ent. Our new pilot at BNY has allowed us to scale up our car­bon diox­ide removal and stor­age process sev­er­al orders of mag­ni­tude, with us now deliv­er­ing on the off­sets we’ve sold, and demon­strat­ing that our process is safe and effec­tive at a mean­ing­ful scale,” said Vycarb Founder & CEO Gar­rett Boudinot.

The May­or Adams Administration’s Har­bor of the Future ini­tia­tive includes emerg­ing inno­va­tion cen­ters at the Hunts Point Pro­duce Mar­ket, Gov­er­nors Island, the Brook­lyn Navy Yard, the Sci­ence Park and Research Cam­pus in Kips Bay, and the North Shore of Stat­en Island. Most recent­ly, May­or Adams announced that the city will invest $100 mil­lion to cre­ate the ​“Cli­mate Inno­va­tion Hub” at the Brook­lyn Army Ter­mi­nal as a part of the city’s Green Econ­o­my Action Plan that will posi­tion New York­ers to ben­e­fit from near­ly 400,000 ​“green-col­lar” jobs by 2040. This new hub will serve as a home for clean tech inno­va­tion, man­u­fac­tur­ing and sup­port green tech­nol­o­gy star­tups — includ­ing sup­port­ing the Pilots at BAT program.

About The Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive
As out­lined in the Green Econ­o­my Action Plan, released by May­or Eric Adams in Feb­ru­ary of 2024, the plan’s vision is to estab­lish New York City as the glob­al cap­i­tal of cli­mate inno­va­tion through pilot­ing pro­grams, leas­es for office and lab space, work­force devel­op­ment invest­ments, and reg­u­la­to­ry wayfind­ing. At the heart of New York City’s bur­geon­ing cli­mate inno­va­tion ecosys­tem, The Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive will invest over $725 mil­lion to advance New York’s green econ­o­my in NYCEDC’s Sun­set Park dis­trict, the Brook­lyn Navy Yard, and on Gov­er­nors Island. By unlock­ing six mil­lion square feet of space, the Har­bor Cli­mate Col­lab­o­ra­tive will sup­port the cre­ation of 5,000 per­ma­nent jobs, edu­cate and train 2,100 stu­dents, and gen­er­ate $55 bil­lion in eco­nom­ic impact.

Nov 12 9:49 am

New York City May­or Eric Adams, New York City School Con­struc­tion Author­i­ty (SCA) Pres­i­dent and CEO Nina Kub­o­ta, New York City Pub­lic Schools Chan­cel­lor Melis­sa Aviles-Ramos, and Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Pres­i­dent and CEO Clare New­man broke ground on a major expan­sion of the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School on Gov­er­nors Island on Novem­ber 7, 2024. The expan­sion will allow the school to bet­ter pre­pare young New York­ers for good-pay­ing green jobs by dou­bling the school’s cam­pus from two to four build­ings and adding new class­rooms, a com­pe­ti­tion-sized pool and gym­na­si­um, and lab­o­ra­to­ries designed to sup­port the school’s dis­tinc­tive mar­itime and envi­ron­men­tal cur­ricu­lum. The announce­ment builds on May­or Adams’ efforts to devel­op a ​“Har­bor of the Future” – a mul­ti­fac­eted ini­tia­tive announced by May­or Adams in his State of the City this year to reimag­ine New York City’s water­front to fuel 21^st-cen­tu­ry growth and innovation.

“We’re laser-focused on prepar­ing young New York­ers for good-pay­ing jobs of the future, and this his­toric expan­sion of the Har­bor School will allow us to do just that,” said May­or Adams. ​“The addi­tion­al class­room and train­ing space will help us ensure that our kids ben­e­fit from the 400,000 green jobs our city will host by 2040. Har­bor School grad­u­ates will work on the wind tur­bines that will pow­er 500,000 homes in our city, invent green tech­nolo­gies that we can’t even imag­ine yet, and more.”

“From the New York Cli­mate Exchange to the expan­sion of the Har­bor School, Gov­er­nors Island is proof of New York City’s lead­er­ship in cli­mate tech­nol­o­gy and edu­ca­tion,” said First Deputy May­or Maria Tor­res-Springer. ​“The Har­bor School’s new facil­i­ties – and Gov­er­nors Island more broad­ly – con­tin­ue to show­case how edu­ca­tion, research, and indus­tri­al devel­op­ment func­tion togeth­er to bring good jobs to the five bor­oughs for the expand­ing cli­mate tech industry.”

“We say kids are ​‘inter­net natives’ – smarter and bet­ter versed than the rest of us on the way mod­ern tech­nol­o­gy works,” said Deputy May­or for Oper­a­tions Meera Joshi. ​“Well, they’re going to be ​‘cli­mate change natives’ too – bet­ter pre­pared than any gen­er­a­tion pri­or to take on the real­i­ties and chal­lenges of cli­mate change with the urgency it requires. That is in part thanks to inno­v­a­tive part­ner­ships like the Har­bor School, which will soon accom­mo­date more kids to learn in nature’s class­room. Thanks to the School Con­struc­tion Author­i­ty, the Trust For Gov­er­nors Island, and all our part­ners for mak­ing a high-qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion cen­ter­ing this vital life skill a reality.”

“The expan­sion of the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School rep­re­sents a bold step for­ward in our mis­sion to pro­vide stu­dents with unique, hands-on edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ences that pre­pare them for suc­cess­ful futures,” said New York City Pub­lic Schools Chan­cel­lor Melis­sa Aviles-Ramos. ​“By dou­bling the cam­pus size and enhanc­ing the school’s facil­i­ties, we are not only enrich­ing the aca­d­e­m­ic jour­ney but also fos­ter­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of envi­ron­men­tal lead­ers and mar­itime experts right here in New York City.”

“We’re proud to improve and build on the orig­i­nal vision for the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School and look for­ward to see­ing how the expand­ed cam­pus will empow­er these excep­tion­al stu­dents to learn and expand their envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship,” said SCA Pres­i­dent and CEO Kub­o­ta. ​“Thanks to a strong col­lab­o­ra­tion between the SCA, New York City Pub­lic Schools, and the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, this expan­sion will enable the school to serve even more stu­dents while becom­ing a valu­able resource for the broad­er community.”

“The Har­bor School is one of the gems of New York City, pro­vid­ing top notch edu­ca­tion and prepar­ing our next gen­er­a­tion of New York­ers in impor­tant indus­tries like mar­itime and the green econ­o­my,” said New York City Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion Pres­i­dent and CEO Andrew Kim­ball. ​“This expand­ed cam­pus will build on the ongo­ing suc­cess of the Har­bor School, and we look for­ward to these young peo­ple join­ing the work­force that will pow­er our ​‘Har­bor of the Future’ and careers across the five boroughs.”

“Today marks a tru­ly excit­ing moment in New York City’s growth as a leader in cli­mate solu­tions – over the past 14 years, thou­sands of young New York­ers have had trans­for­ma­tion­al edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ences on Gov­er­nors Island, using the Har­bor as a liv­ing class­room and receiv­ing high-qual­i­ty career train­ing in mar­itime and envi­ron­men­tal fields,” said Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Pres­i­dent and CEO Clare New­man. ​“We are proud to col­lab­o­rate with our part­ners at the School Con­struc­tion Author­i­ty and New York City Pub­lic Schools to devel­op these new, state-of-the-art facil­i­ties, which will serve to expand oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents and empow­er the envi­ron­men­tal lead­ers of tomorrow.”

The Har­bor School pro­vides a col­lege prepara­to­ry edu­ca­tion built upon New York City’s mar­itime expe­ri­ence with a focus on envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship. With its part­ners – includ­ing the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project – the school devel­ops authen­tic activ­i­ties for its stu­dents on, around, and relat­ed to the water that cre­ates a sense of respon­si­bil­i­ty to New York Har­bor and devel­op a new gen­er­a­tion of mar­itime advo­cates, enthu­si­asts, work­ers, and deci­sion-mak­ers. The expan­sion includes the con­struc­tion of a new, state-of-the-art facil­i­ty that will fea­ture a pool, gym­na­si­um, and addi­tion­al lab space ded­i­cat­ed to career-tech­ni­cal train­ing and research. The SCA will also ren­o­vate Build­ing 555 – a des­ig­nat­ed land­mark struc­ture built in 1938 – to cre­ate 32,000 square feet of addi­tion­al class­room space. Togeth­er, these projects will expand the school’s facil­i­ties from two to four build­ings and add 445 new seats, sup­port­ed by fund­ing from the New York City Coun­cil and the Man­hat­tan Bor­ough Pres­i­den­t’s Office.

Today’s announce­ment builds on the Adams admin­is­tra­tion’s ongo­ing efforts to devel­op New York Har­bor as the heart of the city’s green econ­o­my. In April 2023, May­or Adams and the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island unveiled the New York Cli­mate Exchange, a trans­for­ma­tive vision for a first-in-the-nation cli­mate research, edu­ca­tion, and jobs hub on Gov­er­nors Island that will cre­ate thou­sands of per­ma­nent jobs and $1 bil­lion in eco­nom­ic impact for the city. A cross-sec­tor con­sor­tium led by Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty, the Exchange will cre­ate a state-of-the-art, $700-mil­lion, 400,000-square-foot cam­pus ded­i­cat­ed to research­ing and devel­op­ing inno­v­a­tive cli­mate solu­tions that will be scaled across New York City and the world and that will equip New York­ers to hold the green jobs of the future. Open­ing in 2028, the New York Cli­mate Exchange will be ded­i­cat­ed to edu­ca­tion­al pro­gram­ming, research, cli­mate tech incu­ba­tion, and pol­i­cy work aimed at advanc­ing cli­mate action in New York City and else­where around the world.

Addi­tion­al­ly, in Feb­ru­ary 2024, May­or Adams announced an up to $100 mil­lion invest­ment in the Cli­mate Inno­va­tion Hub at Brook­lyn Army Ter­mi­nal, part of the admin­is­tra­tion’s Green Econ­o­my Action Plan designed to help New York City host near­ly 400,000 green jobs by 2040. This new space will accel­er­ate com­mer­cial­iza­tion path­ways for cli­mate tech star­tups and oth­er green econ­o­my busi­ness­es. It will serve 150 star­tups over 10 years – gen­er­at­ing $2.6 bil­lion in eco­nom­ic impact and cre­at­ing 600 jobs – while pro­vid­ing local work­force train­ing and job place­ment, par­tic­u­lar­ly for the local Sun­set Park community.

Fur­ther­more, in June 2024, May­or Adams broke ground on what will be the nation’s largest ded­i­cat­ed off­shore wind port at the South Brook­lyn Marine Ter­mi­nal in Sun­set Park, Brook­lyn. The project will accel­er­ate the clean ener­gy tran­si­tion, make New York City syn­ony­mous with off­shore wind, advance progress toward the state’s Cli­mate Lead­er­ship and Com­mu­ni­ty Pro­tec­tion Act goal to devel­op 9,000 megawatts of off­shore wind by 2035, and cre­ate a new indus­try with thou­sands of ​‘green-col­lar’ jobs on site and in the sup­ply chain. 

“The Har­bor School is a resource as unique and spe­cial as Gov­er­nors Island itself,” said New York State Sen­a­tor Andrew Gounardes. ​“This new expan­sion gives stu­dents even more oppor­tu­ni­ties to learn, play sports, and study our city’s nat­ur­al ecosys­tems in a one-of-kind envi­ron­ment. I’m glad to see oppor­tu­ni­ties for young peo­ple grow on Gov­er­nors Island, and I’m grate­ful to May­or Adams and the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island for mak­ing this possible.”

“We are com­mit­ted to open­ing all career paths for our chil­dren, and our his­toric expan­sion of the New York Har­bor School will give us a new arse­nal of tools to pre­pare them for good-pay­ing mar­itime careers,” said New York State Assem­bly­mem­ber Jenifer Rajku­mar. ​“New class space, lab­o­ra­to­ries, and oth­er facil­i­ties will allow stu­dents to immerse them­selves in this unique and excit­ing field. The expan­sion is part of our ​‘Har­bor of the Future’ plan, which will trans­form our water­front into a mod­ern hub of eco­nom­ic growth and inno­va­tion, gen­er­at­ing $95 bil­lion in eco­nom­ic activ­i­ty. We are chart­ing a course to sus­tain­able, inno­v­a­tive water­ways address­ing the needs of New Yorkers.”

Oct 25 5:10 pm

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island offers unique oppor­tu­ni­ties for inno­va­tors to test ear­ly-stage cli­mate prod­ucts and ser­vices in a real-world envi­ron­ment. Select­ed pilot­ing projects uti­lize Gov­er­nors Island’s built, social, and nat­ur­al envi­ron­ments – includ­ing a 2.2‑mile water­front, 43-acre cli­mate resilient park, 7 miles of car-free streets, and 50+ his­toric build­ings – to accel­er­ate cli­mate inno­va­tion, eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ty, and social impact in diverse urban communities.

2025 Chal­lenge Theme: Cir­cu­lar Economy

Prob­lem:

New York­ers pro­duce near­ly 4 mil­lion tons of res­i­den­tial waste and anoth­er 4 mil­lion tons of com­mer­cial waste every year. More than half of New York City’s sol­id waste con­sists of con­struc­tion and demo­li­tion mate­ri­als. Today, NYC diverts about 20 per­cent of sol­id waste from land­fills and has com­mit­ted to send zero waste to land­fills by 2030. This waste stream dri­ves green­house gas emis­sions across its life cycle, from the extrac­tion of raw mate­ri­als to its trans­porta­tion and dis­pos­al. Waste trans­fer sta­tions in many cities are in locat­ed in envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice com­mu­ni­ties, con­tribut­ing to long­stand­ing air pol­lu­tion. Shift­ing to a cir­cu­lar econ­o­my that reuses, refur­bish­es, and recov­ers all kinds of mate­ri­als, reduces waste truck­ing, and min­i­mizes land­fill waste and embod­ied car­bon is key to achiev­ing an equi­table, net-zero city.

Chal­lenge:

How can cir­cu­lar econ­o­my prod­ucts and solu­tions dri­ve down the cli­mate impact of the urban waste stream and extend resource recov­ery to our busi­ness­es and neighborhoods?

Inno­va­tion Tracks:

• Low-car­bon and cir­cu­lar con­struc­tion prod­ucts, includ­ing healthy materials.
• Prod­ucts using resources that are recov­ered from the urban waste stream.
• Prod­ucts and ser­vices that reduce con­struc­tion and demo­li­tion waste by extend­ing the use­ful life of exist­ing sys­tems and mak­ing more effi­cient use of new materials.
• Mea­sure­ment tools and ser­vices that accel­er­ate diver­sion from land­fill and reduce sol­id waste.

To learn more and apply by the Decem­ber 5, 2024, dead­line, vis­it gov​is​land​.org/​c​h​a​l​lenge.

Oct 23 9:53 am

New York City-based artists and col­lec­tives (of up to four peo­ple) are invit­ed to sub­mit ideas for an ice sculp­ture, to be com­plet­ed at the fourth annu­al Gov­er­nors Island Ice Sculp­ture Show, pre­sent­ed by Gov­er­nors Island Arts on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025. The theme of this year’s com­pe­ti­tion is Gov­er­nors Island + Nature. Appli­cants are encour­aged to think out­side the box and share with us a cre­ative inter­pre­ta­tion of this theme.

Ten pro­pos­als will be select­ed to par­tic­i­pate in the live carv­ing event. Select­ed appli­cants or teams will receive an award of $2,000 to par­tic­i­pate, and will be pro­vid­ed with tools, pro­duc­tion mate­ri­als, and will be matched with a pro­fes­sion­al ice carv­er to com­plete the work on the day of the event. The dead­line to sub­mit pro­pos­als is Sun­day, Novem­ber 17, 2024.

Click here to learn more and apply by Novem­ber 17, 2024.

Impor­tant Dates

• Dead­line to apply: Sun­day, Novem­ber 17, 2024 at 11:59pm
• Select­ed appli­cants to be noti­fied: Mon­day, Novem­ber 25, 2024. Note: Select­ed appli­cants must accept invi­ta­tion to par­tic­i­pate by Wednes­day, Novem­ber 27, 2024
• In-per­son ori­en­ta­tion: Date TBD. Appli­cants should plan to be avail­able on week­days between Feb­ru­ary 3 – 7, 2025
• Event date: Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025 (Rain Date: Sun­day, Feb­ru­ary 9, 2025)

Appli­cant & Project Eligibility

• Artists of all back­grounds and dis­ci­plines are encour­aged to pro­pose a design for an ice sculpture.
• Appli­cants will need to be com­fort­able and able to oper­ate pow­er tools (with instruc­tion) and lift ice and heavy objects dur­ing the event. Appli­cants will be under the coun­cil of a pro­fes­sion­al ice sculptor.
• Appli­cants can sub­mit inde­pen­dent­ly or work as a team. Each select­ed work will receive a sin­gle award of $2,000.
• Appli­cants need to be avail­able for an in-per­son ori­en­ta­tion week­day between Feb­ru­ary 3 – 7, 2025
• Appli­cants should pro­pose a work based on the use of a clear ice block sized approx­i­mate­ly 40” x 20” x 9”. Please make sure to detail dimen­sions when sub­mit­ting any sketch­es or renderings
• The work does not need to remain in block dimen­sions. It will be con­struct­ed with ice carv­ing tools allow­ing it to be cut, remold­ed, and shaped to vary­ing dimensions.
• Please note that any addi­tion­al mate­ri­als required for the pro­posed design, not out­lined above, should be sup­plied by the artist.

Pub­lic Event & Selection

• Sculp­tures will be carved in a two-hour pub­lic event on Gov­er­nors Island, from 12pm – 2pm on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025 (Rain date on Sun­day, Feb­ru­ary 9, 2025).
• Ten projects will be select­ed noti­fied by Mon­day, Novem­ber 25, 2024. Select­ed appli­cants will need to accept invi­ta­tions by Wednes­day, Novem­ber 27, 2025
• Win­ning sub­mis­sions will be announced and pub­lished online by Jan­u­ary 2025.
• Appli­cants will be required to be on site on Gov­er­nors Island start­ing at 10am on the day of the show (Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 8, 2025. Rain date on Sun­day, Feb­ru­ary 9, 2025).
• The carved sculp­tures will remain on view on Gov­er­nors Island until they melt.

Sep 30 10:06 am

We are thrilled to share an excit­ing update: effec­tive Novem­ber 1, 2024, the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island will become the Gov­er­nors Island Foun­da­tion.

For over two decades, the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island (for­mer­ly Gov­er­nors Island Alliance) has been instru­men­tal in advo­cat­ing for and nur­tur­ing the Island’s growth as a cher­ished pub­lic des­ti­na­tion for New York­ers. As we con­tin­ue to ful­fill our mis­sion and work towards real­iz­ing the Island’s full poten­tial, we have set ambi­tious goals to enhance our park, expand our arts and cul­ture pro­grams, estab­lish a pre­mier cen­ter for research and edu­ca­tion on cli­mate change, and advance projects that boost vis­i­tor ameni­ties and his­toric preser­va­tion.

As the ded­i­cat­ed fundrais­ing part­ner to the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, the Gov­er­nors Island Foun­da­tion will sup­port these goals by focus­ing on secur­ing phil­an­thropic sup­port to fur­ther strength­en the Island as a vibrant resource for all New York­ers. Under this new struc­ture, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and Gov­er­nors Island Foun­da­tion will work more close­ly than ever to sus­tain our mis­sion and programs.

We are enthu­si­as­tic about this new chap­ter that will sup­port our con­tin­ued efforts in stew­ard­ing one of New York City’s most trea­sured spaces. If you have any ques­tions, please feel free to reach out to us at info@​govisland.​org.